Disclaimer: I don't own The Brave Little Toaster. Hyperion does (thank the gods!) and the amazing John Lasseter directed it.

Fun Fact: Toaster was shown at the Sundance Film Festival back in 1987.

Fun Fact: Toaster was made with only $4 million, that's enough to make (back in '87) only 3-4 animated TV episodes. Impressive, no?

Hey, now it's been a while but I guess I can tell this story one more time. After all, I've been dreaming of it lately and it is almost the 25th anniversary of the event. You see, I actually we decided to travel to the City of Light to find our Master. Once we arrived at apartment A113, we thought it would be smooth sailing from there. What we weren't expecting were newer appliances forcing us to leave and sending us to the junkyard. I don't blame them really, I would be a bit intimidated too if some other appliances arrived at my house and knew that the Master would want them over us. I've actually come to forgive them after looking at the situation in their point of view. I don't think the others are quite as sure. Radio being so outgoing, challenging all in his way, Kirby with his gruff attitude (which we've all come to love), Lampy being the slightest bit impulsive, and Blanky being the youngest still too naive to make much out of the situation. They're all still mad about what happened and say (when I'm not around of course) "If they didn't push us out that window, then that never would have happened to Toaster." Yep, you guessed it, I was that brave little toaster who led everyone on the adventure of a lifetime. Well, Radio and Kirby did most of the leading... I just brought up the idea. So it's that event they keep talking about, I know very well what it was.

They always seem to talk about that day in the junkyard now, sometimes telling me that if it didn't happen then they might consider going on another with me. But they say I'm too fragile after the incident so I just go along with it to make them happy. After all, they're my best friends. So this is what happened that day in the junkyard.

We were all picked up by the magnet. It used some huge amount of force to pick all of us up, including some other metal pieces lying around near us. It dumped all of us on different parts of the conveyor belt leading to that awful metal compactor. I was still dazed a couple seconds after the magnet dropped us. I was hit with a lot of the debris the magnet picked up. There was a terrible pain near my right eye and I could feel that one of my handles was threatening to come off with any more stress. I hoped that all of my friends were fine and that i was the furthest up the conveyor belt. I refocused my thoughts just in time as I was arriving at the magnet quickly. I jumped off as fast as I could; a couple more seconds and I would have been one of those little metal cubes. I landed on the ground with a loud thud. I was still in a bit of pain and my hard landing didn't help anything. I heard the Master further down the conveyor belt shouting to his girlfriend about how he found all of his things except me. Filled with happiness, I raced towards the sound of his voice and carefully looked around a pile of hopeless cars. I hoped that he wouldn't see me or the magnet. I really did feel bad for the magnet, crushing other appliances all day had to be depressing work and seeing others free of the task must have been hard on it. Maybe that's why it kept following us around trying to dispose of us. Maybe it was jealousy. I know I would be.

I looked around the pile and saw the Master carefully placing Kirby, Blanky, Radio, and Lampy on the ground right in front of him. I was relieved to see them all alive; I didn't want anything bad to happen to them. Just as I was about to go "lifeless" (when I'm not walking around and showing my face out in the open) I heard a familiar hum near me. I turned fearfully and saw the magnet looming above us all. I thought it was going to grab me since the Master had all of my friends but I was dead wrong. He went not only for my friends but also for the Master. It didn't let anything go even when the Master was hanging on for dear life to Kirby's handle. "Let me down!" he shouted as I followed them. It was getting harder for me to travel as fast as the magnet since I had taken some damage after landing from several tall heights. I finally caught up to them when the magnet dropped its load. This included my friends, the Master, and various other objects.

I looked on in horror since the Master was trapped under the debris and none of my friends could help because they were either trapped as well or couldn't move because of the Master's presence (rule number one: no signs of life around humans, it will either get them confused or get you dismantled). I saw Blanky wrapped around the Master's leg. I knew he wouldn't let go for anything, even approaching death. Somewhere inside of me, I knew that nobody else could save them in time except for me. I looked around quickly and noticed a stack of cars next to me. Thinking that I might find the answer at the top, I jumped and started climbing.

It became increasingly difficult the farther up I went. My left handle felt like it would pop out at any moment. After what felt like hours, I finally made it to the top. I scanned the area quickly, hearing the Master's shouts for his girlfriend Chris. She couldn't see him (he was above her the whole time) and that's when I knew I was the only one who could save five lives. My eyes finally fell upon the gears of the compactor and I got the idea. I needed to save my friends but I had my doubts. What if I missed? What if the gears kept going? What if they... they... no. I wouldn't let it happen. I remembered how Lampy almost died trying recharge the dead battery, how Kirby jumped off the cliff to save us from the waterfall, how Blanky was almost lost forever trying to protect us from the thunderstorm, how Radio was so close to losing his tube for about five dollars. I remembered how hopeless I felt in those situations and realized that's just how my friends were feeling now. I owed it to them to always be there for them, just as they had for me. Remember the flower... that would not happen again. Five for the price of one, I knew in my heart that I had to do it. Taking careful aim as the Master screamed one last time, I jumped off the car tower straight towards the gears.

I had remained right on target and went right into the gears. What I wasn't expecting was to be flipped over onto my back and have the gears pound straight into my eyes. I didn't even have time to scream as the gears pounded on me. I closed my eyes right before the gears came down but it didn't help much. The next thing I remember is excruciating pain. It was so terrible, I don't know how to describe it but probably not nearly as bad as Lampy's experience with the lightening (I hope not at least). Pounds of pressure were pushing down on me. I heard some sickly noises coming from both the inside and outside of me. I had the feeling that I would be way beyond repair when it was over. I finally heard what I was looking for, the compactor grind to a halt and the Master's sigh of relief.

From that, I knew my friends were safe and I had jumped at the right time. I could feel the gears all around me, still trying to continue movement even with me inside. They were threatening to end my life for good if I didn't get out within a minute or two if I was lucky. I soon felt a tug and came out of the gears. I was surprised I stayed conscious through the whole thing. The first thing I felt after being pulled out was pain. It now ran all through my body. I could tell that my left handle had finally fallen off after much abuse and my body felt like a dented mess (which it was). I barely heard the Master say something along the lines of wondering how I got in there and how he was going to fix me. I didn't care at the moment though, I could only think about my friends. I felt myself being placed carefully in the Master's car. Once it started up, I weakly opened my eyes and saw my friends staring at me with concerned expressions on their faces (I knew Radio well enough to know what he was thinking).

They looked more worried when I opened my eyes because I found that my right one wouldn't open, the metal surrounding it had already caved in. I tried to tell them I would be fine but all that came out was a stifled groan. They crowded closer and told me not to speak. Blanky was hidden behind the others trying not to look at me too much. Being the curious appliance I am, I looked at the parts of myself I could actually see and became sickened at what I saw. My lower half had been turned upright at an almost 90 degree angle. Two of the four stands I had to hold me upright had broken off and my crumb tray was sticking out of me, bent and crooked. To make it worse, around me was a puddle of oil (your human equivalent of blood) and still coming out of a hole in my chrome. We all knew there was nothing else that could be done except let the Master decide my fate. As my friends were talking to me about what happened from where they were, I slowly felt my consciousness fading and finally passed out both from pain and exhaustion.

The next thing I remember is the Master using me to make his toast again. Once he left the small apartment kitchen (the apartment appliances stayed away from me after seeing what I looked like after the junkyard) I opened my eyes and found everything repaired. My handle had been reattached and nothing felt painful to move anymore. I looked some more and finally found a small reminder of my sacrifice. Nobody would be able to see it but there was a small bumpy line along my right side. This must have been where he opened me up and repaired my interior, I thought to myself. The next day, everyone seemed happy to have me back and I was happy to see them again. I found out that it had taken the Master about a week to complete repairs and apparently after I lost consciousness, I actually died. It was strange, I didn't feel dead, it felt like I was in a dream that I couldn't quite wake up from yet. The others also told me about how I looked when I came out. It was bad, so bad that Radio didn't even exaggerate any details. The part of me that I couldn't see was much worse than my lower part. My right eye had caved in completely and that's where most of the oil had come from. My toast slots were almost completely closed and whenever the car hit a bump, a sickly rattling noise could be heard coming from the inside.

I assured them that I would be fine and we continued to talk about our adventure. I did ask Lampy what it felt like being electrocuted by lightening (at one point, I was almost struck if I didn't move out of the way). He said it was like having a never-ending pain shoot through your body. He looked at me for a minute when he said that but quickly added, "At least I passed out afterwards."

Bonus Chapter

Toaster's computer journal: the letter

Entry #A113

Issued: 12:30am

Now, the others try to make sure I'm fine and not doing anything "too dangerous". They also seem to be avoiding me at the same time. That's why I'm leaving; I want one more adventure before I die. I'm going back to the City of Light and my final stop will be the junkyard. I don't know what I would do without my friends. They all are so mad at me and I don't understand why. I tried to ask them but they don't tell me anything. Well, I'm truly sorry for whatever I did guys and you should have a right to be angry at me. After all, we're not always going to get along every day. Don't come after me, I want you here to look after the Little Master. Good bye everyone and thanks Computer for letting me use you. I'll miss everyone. Just remember me ok? I won't be coming back. Good bye.

Your little friend,

Toaster

"Computer?" Toaster asked.

"Mwha? Huh? What is it Toaster?" she said.

"Make sure everyone looks after the Masters ok?"

"Of course. Should I alert Wittegenstein of your departure?"

"Only if you want to. I'll miss you."

"And I'll miss you too. I can hold the fort until you come back. By the way, when are you coming back?"

"I'm not sure. Bye." Toaster left without another word as Computer tried her best to pry more information. He ignored her pleas as he sadly walked past the kitchen looking at all his sleeping friends. They seem so peaceful, Toaster thought, they'll be fine. They won't notice me missing. They're so mad at me, they will just be happier. This is for the best. Toaster slowly pushed the door open and looked back once more. He sighed and then slowly closed the door behind him. Toaster knew in his "heart" that he wouldn't be returning. A tear ran down his face. "I'll miss you, but this is for the best." Toaster started the trek to the junkyard thinking about his friends. "Good bye."

Better to be dead and unwanted than to be alive and know you're unwanted.

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